Pope Francis to call astronauts aboard the Space Station

International Space Station over the planet earth. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Credit: Andrey Armyagov via Shutterstock.

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2017 / 11:07 am MT ().- From the start of his pontificate, Pope Francis has gained a reputation for his phone calls to people around the world – including a priest with cancer, a Jesuit doorman, and a mother who had just lost her son.

But the Vatican announced on Monday that the next call on Pope Francis’ list is going to be out of this world… literally.

Pope Francis will contact NASA’s International Space Station via a satellite call on Oct. 26 at 5 P.M., according to the Vatican.

Aboard the International Space Station are a total of six astronauts, including three Americans, two Russians and one Italian who have been orbiting the earth, about 220 miles away.

Pope Francis’ call will mark the second time a Pope has contacted astronauts in space. Pope Benedict XVI called the International Space Station in 2011 via satellite link and spoke with 12 astronauts for about 20 minutes.